Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index edged lower on Friday despite strength in energy stocks, while US markets were mixed as the Dow erased another record but technology stocks lagged.
The mood on Friday was mixed after a strong week for Canadian and US equities, said Andrew Buntain, vice-president and portfolio manager of Fiduciary Trust Canada.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 77.01 points at 23,956.82, a day later. It closed over 24,000 for the first time on Thursday.
This past week’s strength was not just in the North American markets, Buntain noted, as Chinese stocks enjoyed a rally after the country’s central banks announced a series of measures intended to boost the economy.
Meanwhile, an undercurrent of increasing strength continued this week as investors spread their interest beyond a narrow set of tech giants, Buntain said.
“Some of the sectors that have been overlooked for several years have been some of the best performers this year,” he said.
“We are very encouraged by that.”
In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 137.89 points at 42,313. The S&P 500 index was down 7.20 points at 5,738.17 after setting an all-time high on Thursday, while the Nasdaq composite was down 70.70 points at 18,119.59.
A report on Friday on one of the US central bank’s preferred inflation measures – the personal consumption expenditure price index – showed a continued cooling.
The Federal Reserve began lowering its key interest rate last week, and is expected to keep going this fall and into 2025.
However, the Fed’s next interest rate decision is not until November, Buntain noted, so there is still plenty of data for the central bank to take in – including next week’s labor report.
The jobs market has been an increasingly key focus for the central bank after recent reports showed a cooling in that area of ​​the economy. Friday’s report also showed that consumer spending in August fell short of economists’ expectations.
In Canada, where the Bank of Canada is set for its next rate decision later in October, Friday brought a slightly stronger-than-expected GDP report, Buntain said.
“The Bank of Canada has already delivered three cuts and has indicated perhaps some further reductions,” he said.
If inflation continues to move lower, Buntain added, the Bank of Canada could even announce an oversized half-percentage-point cut, echoing the Fed’s move last week.
The Canadian dollar traded at 74.08 US cents compared to 74.22 US cents on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was up 51 cents at US$68.18 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 15 cents at US$2.90 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$26.80 at US$2,668.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.60 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 27, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.request(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document, ‘script’, ‘fbq(‘init’, ‘682184526921804’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
Source link
The post S&P/TSX composite was down Friday, US markets mixed as Dow notches another high appeared first on Canadian News Media.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://canadanewsmedia.ca/sp-tsx-composite-down-friday-u-s-markets-mixed-as-dow-notches-another-high/
